Russia's Former Top Anti-Corruption Cop Commits Suicide During Questioning

While in America any anti-corruption "probe" typically results in a bank being slapped with a fine that is expressed in minutes, if not seconds, of its annual revenue, or, at worst, the corporate logo being sent to prison, in Russia things have a different "resolution."

Moments ago, Boris Kolesnikov, former deputy head of Russian Interior Ministry unit overseeing economic security and anti-corruption, threw himself out of window during questioning today, according to the Russian Investigative Committee. Kolesnikov jumped from window while investigator, lawyer were out of room, Bloomberg reports, citing another Kolesnikov lawyer Georgy Antonov.

The good news is that the broken window will add at least 0.00001% to Russian GDP (which just like Spain and the rest of insolvent Europe, needs to start adding the "contribution" of hookers and blow to economic output immediately).

The bad, even even more bizarre news is that, if one will pardon the pun, third time was the suicide charm, as this was Kolesnikov third suicide attempt while under guard. Kolesnikov’s lawyer said his client suffered head trauma twice since his arrest and may have been subjected to physical pressure, Kommersant newspaper reported May 24.

And yet, despite Kolesnikov's suicide, which may have also involved foul play as Moscow Times reports below, he will hardly take all his knows to the grave with him: after Kolesnikov was arrested in February, his former boss Lieutenant-General Denis Sugrobov was also dismissed, arrested in May. One wonders just how bad the corruption secrets must be for people to start dropping like flies?

Investigators have opened a probe into the bizarre death of the former deputy head of the Interior Ministry's anti-corruption department, who reportedly jumped out of a window during questioning on Monday.

"During the interrogation, the investigator and lawyer left the room, and at that moment my client dove out the window. He is dead," said Georgy Antonov, the lawyer of Boris Kolesnikov, Interfax reported.

The Investigative Committee posted a statement on its website with a different scenario, however, saying that Kolesnikov, who was being questioned over abuse of office accusations, had asked two guards to let him use the bathroom. He then knocked them over when they removed his handcuffs and jumped from the sixth floor balcony, the statement said.

Lyudmila Alexeyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group and a veteran human rights campaigner, cast doubt on the official version of events, calling the situation "very strange."

"When he ran, knocked over the guards, he just knew that a window was open somewhere? It's very strange somehow. It's unclear whether he jumped himself or was thrown out," Alexeyev said in comments carried by Interfax.

Investigators have opened a probe into Kolesnikov's death, but Alexeyeva has suggested that a public monitoring committee conduct a separate investigation into the incident, Interfax reported.

Kolesnikov was arrested in February over accusations he had abused his position, the same charges that saw his boss, the head of the department, being personally dismissed by President Vladimir Putin.

Several other people were detained in the case, though no charges had been filed against Kolesnikov and the investigation was ongoing.

One thing is certain: whatever corruption exists in Russia, deadly as it may be, pales to the hundreds of billions in illegal wealth transfer that took place during the bank bailout after the Lehman failure, and which has yet to see any member of the ruling banker oligarchy sent to jail. Now executives of scapegoated foreign banks, that's a different matter entirely.

And another thing: if this was the US, Kolesnikov would have been free long ago, but certainly not before greasing the palms of justice appropriately with the required "settlement" fee.

it is not simple corruption fight ... it is more that someone up there is trying to put 2 + 2 together, and that is easier said than done ... others from outside might want that 2+2 = 15 ... do you dig ???

the big leagues my man ...very big leagues, not our cup of tea. in a normal corruption thing, money just moves up the chain of command and that is that. this is about control, more than likely control of resources

Interesting form of 'justice' though. Makes you wonder- was he the one who was corrupt, or did he actually do his job and discover some corruption that he wasn't supposed to see. Very different from American 'justice' though, where the bank pays some small % of their ill gotten gains in the form of fines, and never even has to admit guilt.

"Lyudmila Alexeyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group and a veteran human rights campaigner, cast doubt on the official version of events, calling the situation "very strange."

"When he ran, knocked over the guards, he just knew that a window was open somewhere? It's very strange somehow. It's unclear whether he jumped himself or was thrown out," Alexeyev said in comments carried by Interfax. "

Lots of strange suicides lately. At least when you're suicided, you're happy right up iuntil the end. You don't have to struggle with the crushing, debilitating depression that usually precedes "self-inflicted" suicides.

Defining the 'state' as it is historically ever done is always in past tense. As in, there once was a state of Rome that is no longer. Or there once was a civil state that is no longer. The term 'state' as an action or a noun is as disposable as tissue from a box and is always subject to change.

Assuming otherwise is only wishful thinking. History provides the example that the change of affairs is completely indifferent because there are no hard and fast rules to any of it except some obvious points of maintaining the current state.

Once the current state is done, it goes into a book and become past history.

Actually, Marley, it’s the other way around. The American government has been commandeered by tyrannical oligarchs who use it as a weapon against the people. Governments were to be developed by men to provide security and protection of their rights; but the American government has become a Leviathan monster creating wars to benefit the financial elite and dominating every phase of American life, even to dictating what the entire nation of school children will eat for lunch and what they will learn and what jobs will be available.

If that’s not enough, the tyrants work feverishly every day to make the national takeover of society, international. For on this site today, the architecture for a world government, the IMF/Fed, moves toward centralized world governance; and make no mistake, it will be backed by helicopter gunships and police weapons in every country of the world. Already…

And you know what, the international bankers will take it all, until someone stands up and stops them.

Yes, this is war. And the war is the American government vs. the American people. Frankly, the fight back does not translate as pro-Russian but pro-liberty – a frantic cry to escape the tyranny coming from Washington.

I am very anti-Putin. I don't see ZH being pro-Russian or anti-Russian. Commentors here do take both sides. The same can be said about Putin specifically.

As for being the subject of a war against our own state... meh. Most here have no problem with the USA. Most do have a problem with the USSA. That would mean we are not against our own country but very much in favor of it while being extremely biased against the bastards who have hijacked this country.

I imagine that in 1944 most Italians loved their Italy but despised Mussolini's Italy.

Yeah, but it would need a baseball cap-cam pointed back toward the face to really make it worth it, with a split screen web stream to show the Fed's OMC down on the sidewalk tryin' to catch him with a fireman's trampoline made of greenbacks.

See, in the US, for example, the IRS will simply claim to have lost 2 years worth of emails. We know its a lie, they know we know its a lie, the Democrats and major coastal papers don't cover it, or underplay it, and 2 news cycles later it's pushed aside by the latest school shooting or tale of illegal alien toddlers or by some fat, talentless Hollywood hack calling some asshole a 'faggot.'

We don't do windows. Nailguns, sure. Exploding cars, sure. Small jets, such as John John's... sure...

i've always thought the phrase "throwing (oneself) out the window" is absurd .

jumping out or leaping out of the window make sense. how does one throw one'self?

you can throw something else, and in the exceptional cases you can use the verb throw as

to 'throw your voice' , "throw a punch'---both of those terms getting their underlying meaning from the association with throwing something that can protrude or extend from the major portion of the center of your body.

Several suicides were reported of interogatees jumping out of windows at John Vorster Square in Johannesburg - even though the windows were barred. I remember a coroner making a droll suggestion that perhaps the security services should use ground floor offices for their interrogations. In fairness, some prisoners slipped on pieces of soap and tripped out of the window, which was not regarded as suicide.

Clearly, as the chief anti-corruption police officer in Russia, Kolesnikov was depressed at being unemployed.

Putin absolutely rules (rules absolutely?) for the good of all Russians.

Therefore there was no corruption for Kolesnikov to police, leaving him depressed and unfulfilled.

So when he was questioned for allegations of pulling the wings off flies before judicial arraignment - a cruelty to small animals charge and abuse of office charge - he succumbed to his poor mental health and jumped off an open balcony (and through the bars of the interrogation room cell, and through two office doors to get to the window, and then through a steel grate blocking the window to get to the balcony), and fell to his death.

The Kremlin will surely give bonuses to the guards to help assuage their guilt and remorse, who are no doubt beating themselves up over their brief moment of innattention for hours on end, that resulted in this tragic assisted suicide.